Stopping apparatus

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to an improvement in stopping apparatus permitting boreholes to be made with great accuracy and requiring little manpower attendance, said apparatus comprising a movable platform with lifting jacks thereon for fixing it in a horizontal position, and a plurality of arms each of which is articulated to a central stud on the platform, is swingable in a substantially horizontal plane, is adapted for carrying drilling means and comprises two telescopic parts with means for locking said parts in selected positions relatively to each other and for indicating the degree of their relative telescopic displacement.

United States Patent 1 3,640,349 Granskog 51 Feb. 8, 1972 [54] STOPPINGAPPARATUS 830,33l 4/l952 Germany ..173/32 [72] lnvemor: Rahmd Gmskog,skeneflea Sweden $6,006 IO/ I968 Poland ..l73/33 73] Assignee:Llnden-Alimak Aktlebolag, Vasteras, Primary Examiner-James A- ppinkSweden Attorney-Sommers & Young [22] Filed: June 8, 1970 [21] ApplNo;44,262 The invention relates to an improvement in stopping apparatuspermitting boreholes to be made with great accuracy 52 us. Cl ..173/32,175/53, 175/98, and "w lime attendance said PP 175/122 comprising amovable platform with lilting jacks thereon for 51 lm. Cl. ..E2lc 23/00fixinfl a and Pluramy arms each of [58] Field ofSeareh .173/32 33 52-175/122 53 which is miculmd stud {75/95 swingable in a substantiallyhorizontal plane, is adapted for carrying drilling means and comprisestwo telescopic pans with means for locking said parts in selectedpositions relative- [56] Cited ly to each other and for indicating thedegree of their relative FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS telescopicdisplacement- 255,52l 7/1926 Great Britain ..l73/52 3 Claims, 6 DrawingFigures PMENIEB FEB 8 m2 SHEET 1 0f 2 INVENTOR Roland Gronskog BY 5 ommwATTORNEY PATENIED FEB a 1912 SHEET 2 BF 2 INVENTOR Roland GronskogSTOPPING APPARATUS This invention is concerned with an apparatus forexpanding and shaping minor vertical shafts, said apparatus comprising aplatform which can be raised and lowered and which is fixed in ahorizontal position by means of outwardly directed lifting jacks mountedon the outer edges of the platform, said platform having moreover sitesfor the attachment of drilling machines or other equipment for workingin rock or earth substratcs.

The expanding of shafts or stopping, as it is called by techniciansversed in this art, is an operation often required in mining and rockblasting processes; when the shafts are vertical shafts the stopping isusually effected downwardly. The boreholes required for this purpose areusually made by means of a number of handheld drilling machines operatedby one person each. The bore holes are arranged to form a row of holescontiguous with the outer contour of the enlarged shaft to be made andare called border holes." in addition, the operations involved with theblasting technique employed usually require the provision ofa number ofholes, so-called stopping holes," between the border holes and the minorshaft that has already been excavated before. The border holes should bemade to slope outwardly, as seen from the central axis of the shaft andin the longitudinal direction of the borehole, whereas the stoppingholes (ifany) are usually made parallel to the longitudinal axis of theshaft. The direction of the boreholes is usually controlled visually bythe workers.

For the final shaft to be fully satisfactory it is of imperativeimportance that the border holes are positioned accurately with respectto the theoretical outer contour, and that exactly the accurate degreeof inclination is obtained. However, when the holes are made withhand-held drilling machines and their direction is controlled visuallyit is difficult to fulfill these requirements. if moreover, the shaft,after the stopping operation, is to be wholly or partially lined withconcrete in an exactly predetermined position, it is difficult, whenusing the conventional stopping procedures, to correctly calculate thevolume of concrete required and, concomitantly, to give with areasonable degree of accuracy an estimate of the costs involved. On theother hand, utilisation of the shaft in its as-blast (raw) state forventilation purposes would affect the costs of operation unfavorably,for in that case the shaft would not have such surface smoothness as isdesirable for minimizing losses due to friction when air passes alongthe shaft walls.

The present invention provides a novel apparatus for expanding andshaping minor vertical shafts which has the twofold advantage of (i)increased efficiency, in that one man can attend to two or more drillingmachines simultaneously, and (ii) increased accuracy of the directionsof the boreholeswhich improves the economy of subsequent operation oruse. The apparatus according to the invention consist of a platformwhich is capable of being raised and lowered and is fixed in ahorizontal position by means of lifting jacks which are mounted at itsedge and extend outwardly therefrom. The platform is provided with acentral upwardly extending stud, pole or post carrying arms which arearticulated to said stud, pole or post, are parallel to the plane of theplatform and are adjustable to various positions in two planes at rightangles to each other, each of said arms constituting a support forcarrying a drilling machine with associated feeder means and beingcomposed of two parts which are joined to each other in telescopicrelationship, are adapted to be locked relatively to each other and indifferent positions of displace ment, and are provided with means forindicating the displaced position of one part relatively to the otherpart.

An embodiment of the invention will be described below with reference tothe attached drawing; it should be ap preciated, however, that theinvention is in no way restricted to said embodiment.

in the drawing FlG. l is a vertical section through a shaft with theapparatus in drilling position.

FIG. 2 is a horizontal section along line [-1 in FIG. I.

FIG. 3 illustrates schematically how the platform may be arranged in acorrect position as desired.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the central stud or post of the platform.

FIG. 5 is a view of one of the lateral liftingjacks in greater detail.

FIG. 6 shows means for locking the scale of the platform.

The apparatus is shown as it is mounted and utilized for expanding ofdilating a shaft 10 preformed by blasting and to be expanded so as toform a wider shaft ll of circular cross section, the actual profile 12of said intended shaft, such as it is obtained in practice, acquiring asteplike configuration due to the inclination of the border holes.

The apparatus comprises a platform 14 provided in its center with atubular upwardly extending post 22 which has a so-called hairline-crossat its upper end. At points [5 (FIG. I) the platform 14 is carried byfour cables [3 leading to a winch via pulleys or blockswhich may besecured to, for example, the superstructure above the shaft-so as toenable the platform to be hoisted or lowered as desired.

In the embodiment as shown, the platform 14 is circular and is at itsperiphery provided with outwardly extending jacks 25 by means of whichit is fixed in its position in the shaft. Fine adjustment of theplatform position is obtained by means of lowering a plummet 18 (FIG. 3)into the hairlinecross 24 of post 22, said plummet being attached to aplummet line 20 coming via two simple block sheaves 21 from a manuallyoperated winch 19 which is placed on the platform. the sheaves 21 beingsecured to the superstructure above the shaft. Post 22 is filled with aliquid 23 for dampening the movement of plummet 18. A fine adjustment ofthe position of platform 14 can thus be achieved by actuation of jacks25.

Each jack 25 comprises a sleeve 28 (FIG. 5) horizontally pivotable abouta vertical stud 27 on platform 14, and a tube 29 welded to said sleeveand provided at its outer end with a screw 26 forming an angle with tube29, the joint between screw 26 and tube 29 being formed with a resilientinsert member 30. A telescopic tube 53 of lesser dimension than tube 29has been fitted into said tube 29; it is provided with holes by whichthe extent to which it is inserted in tube 29 may be varied stepwise. apin 37 being provided for locking it. At its outer end, tube 53 carriesa pressure plate 32 which is mounted on a stud 33 so that it willautomatically adapt itself to the contour of the rock surface at thepoint of contact. The other end of screw 26 is threaded into a nut 34having two vertically opposite studs 35 mounted in a shackle 36 that iswelded to platform 14. When the jack is actuated, tube 53 is drawn outto maximum extracted position and locked by means of pin 37. Then screw26 is turned or rotated so as to cause pressure plate 32 to lie incontact with the rock surface. Further turning or rotation of the screwwill then compress the resilient or spring member 30, thus preventingthe jack from loosening due to vibration and destruction of the rocksurface that is in direct contact with the pressure plate 32.

Rigging screws [6 (FIG. I) are provided between the aforesaid pulleys orblocks and the points 15 where the cables [3 are attached to platform[4, these screws 16 permitting subsequent adjustment of the horizontalpositioning of platform 14. The horizontal positioning is controlledwith the aid of two water level gages 17 arranged at right angles anddiametrically to cables 13. Such a subsequent adjustment may be requiredfor instance if fatigue stretching of the cables occurs.

Four outwardly directed swinging arms 43 are articulated to the centralupwardly extending stud 22. Each swinging arm 43 consists of (i) aninner part forming the articulate connection with stud 22 via ajournalbearing 44 and support bearing 45, and (ii) a telescopic outer part 46.A drill feeder 47 with a drilling machine 48 is articulated to theexterior end of said outer part 46. The outer part 46 due to itstelescopic arrangement can be displaced in the longitudinal direction ofarm 43 relatively to the inner part, and the degree of displacement maybe indicated on a scale 49 on said outer part 46. The two swinging arminner and outer parts are locked in the desired position. The feeders 47have been attached to parts 46 so as to be directed downwardly, andtheir degree of inclination relatively to the horizontal plane ofplatform 14 may be varied by means of changing the length of aconnecting strut 50 between a feeder 47 and outer swinging arm part 46.

On the platform 14 there is furthermore an annular girder 4l providedwith abutments 40. and interiorly of said girder there is a circularscale 38 which can be locked against rotational movement by means offourjaws 39, said jaws clamping the scale against the abutment 40 ofgirder 41 and being operated by means of screw 42.

Depending on the configuration of the final shaft-circular. square,rectangular, elliptic or other-the methods will vary as to how theborehole positions are indicated on the scale 38. If the shaft iscircular each position is marked out in accordance with known methods,for example by marking in colors, one color being used for each row ofholes. If the shaft is not circular the scale is calibrated before theworking operations are started so that the l 80line of the scalecoincides with the long diameter of the shaft and the 90270linecoincides with the short diameter of the shaft. For effecting thecalibration, the screws 42 are loosened so as to release the four jaws39 that have been set to lock the scale against rotation, namely bymeans of clamping it against the abutments 40 which are rigidlyconnected with the annular girder 41. After the jaws and the scale havebeen thus released the scale is adjusted as stated above and is thenagain locked in its position. in that the screws are again drawn tight.

In operation of the apparatus. when a winging arm 43 has been placedinto its desired working position it is locked to the annular girder bymeans of a clamping screw or the like. The swinging arms 43 may vary innumber; for example, there may be four such arms-in which case each armwill serve for one quadrant of the circumference. if any disturbance offailure occurs during operation of the apparatus an adjacent arm 43 maybe utilized instead of the arm that has failed. The swinging arms areindependent inter se and may be disposed in different horizontalplancsin which case the area covered by each arm in its plane will notbe a factor thwarting their positioning at less than angles inter se inthe horizontal planes.

The drilling machine 48 and feeder means 47 may be of conventional type.If the tools employed are driven pneumatically the pressurized air.entering in the center. may be directed to a central lubricator deviceSI and will then from said lubricator device be distributed to each toolvia hose con duits 52.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for expanding and shaping vertical shafts comprising.

a platform.

means for suspending said platform and for raising and lowering saidplatform,

a plurality of jacks mounted on the platform and directed outwardlytherefrom.

an upwardly extending supporting means on said platform.

a plurality of arms articulated onto said supporting means parallel tothe plane of the platform and adjustable to various positions at anglesto each other, each said arm comprising at least two partsjoined intelescopic relationship and including means for locking said partsrelatively to each other in different positions of telescopicdisplacement,

each of said arms at its outer and including means for supporting adrilling machine and associated feeder means.

2. The apparatus of claim 6 which further includes means for lockingsaid arms in various different positions of rotation about said upwardlyextending supporting means, and scale means for indicating the positionof rotation of said arms.

3. The apparatus of claim 6 in which said drilling machine supportingmeans mounts said drilling machine at a variable angle to the plane ofthe platform

1. Apparatus for expanding and shaping vertical shafts comprising, aplatform, means for suspending said platform and for raising andlowering said platform, a plurality of jacks mounted on the platform anddirected outwardly therefrom, an upwardly extending supporting means onsaid platform, a plurality of arms articulated onto said supportingmeans parallel to the plane of the platform and adjustable to variouspositions at angles to each other, each said arm comprising at least twoparts joined in telescopic relationship and including means for lockingsaid parts relatively to each other in different positions of telescopicdisplacement, each of said arms at its outer end including means forsupporting a drilling machine and associated feeder means.
 2. Theapparatus of claim 1 which further includes means for locking said armsin various different positions of rotation about said upwardly extendingsupporting means, and scale means for indicating the position ofrotation of said arms.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1 in which saiddrilling machine supporting means mounts said drilling machine at avariable angle to the plane of the platform.